Sunday 30 June 2019
Tune of the Day: Andante grazioso by Paul Merkus
for flute and piano
Today's piece is a contribution from the archive of our guest composer Paul Merkus from the Netherlands. Back in 1986 he wrote a three-part “Sonata per flauto e pianoforte” for flute and piano as an exercise to train himself in the traditional and powerful concept of the classical sonata form with three movements, “fast-slow-fast”.
This “Andante Grazioso” is the first gracious movement of that sonata. In the exposition, the frequent use of the characteristic major-seventh chords in the piano accompaniment provides a very distinctive sound. The central development part contains an abundance of modulations, after which the opening theme is heard again in the final recapitulation.